A set of wartime medals belonging to two brave brothers, which were discovered during a cottage search, are to be auctioned.
Valuers were carrying out an assessment of the cottage in Boltby, near Thirsk, when they discovered the cased medals of the two brothers from crack British regiments.
Douglas and Albert Stephen were both killed within weeks of being sent to France in August 1914.
In total their medals are expected to fetch up to £3,500 when they go under the hammer this week.
Graham Paddison, a specialist at David Duggleby's auctioneers, said: "The Stephen brothers were career professional soldiers, young men who had fought their way through the Boer War in South Africa and served in various other hotspots around the world.
"They must have thought that they had seen it all but of course nobody foresaw what was going to happen, particularly in those first desperate months of the conflict."
"The elder brother, 37-year-old Captain Douglas Stephen, was the first to be killed. He was the Commander of No. 3 Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, which was sent to France just nine days after the declaration of war, arriving at Le Havre on August 14.
"He did not survive a month. Hit in both legs by machine gun fire during the Battle of the Marne on September 8, he died of his wounds in hospital two days later - one of 41 men that his company lost in the fighting on that one day."
Mr Paddison went added that the younger brother, 35-year-old Captain Albert Stephen, was a Boer War hero who had been awarded the DSO in South Africa.
"He was the Adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the Scots Guards, which arrived in Le Havre on the same day as the Grenadiers," said Mr Paddison.
"He survived 11 weeks, killed on October 31, midway through the First Battle of Ypres, the day that the divisional headquarters was hit by shellfire.
"That battle decimated the Scots Guards. After four weeks the 1st battalion was left with just one captain, a quartermaster and 73 men."
Descendants of the Stephen brothers have decided that now is the time for the medals to go to a new home.
The medal sets of the two men are almost identical, with the exception of Albert’s Boer War DSO (Distinguished Service Order), an award given to officers for meritorious conduct in wartime, almost always in combat.
The sale will take place on Friday (August 11) and you can find out more details on the website here.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here